Martina Owns This Show Navratilova Wins Again -- Maleeva Is 6th Victim

April 28, 1985|By Tim Povtak of The Sentinel Staff

LAKE BUENA VISTA — To no one's surprise, Martina Navratilova finished her waltz through the Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions Saturday with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of overmatched Katerina Maleeva at the Grand Cypress Resort.

The sponsor may have changed this year, along with Navratilova's supporting cast, but the star remained as predictable as the hot afternoon sun. She was awesome.

Navratilova, perhaps the greatest show in women's tennis history, won the tournament for the sixth consecutive year and remains the only champion in its history. She is 24-0 in six years of this Central Florida event.

Since 1982 she has won 51 of the 59 tournaments she has entered.

Maleeva, the unseeded 15-year-old Bulgarian who upset her way through the other half of the draw, was no match for Navratilova.

Navratilova needed just 48 minutes to collect her first-place check of $50,000. Last year she took just 37 minutes to destroy Arraya.

''I realized after my first few games I wasn't going to lose,'' Navratilova said. ''It was just a matter of how long it was going to take.''

Although the temperature was recorded at 101 degrees on the clay surface Saturday afternoon, the heat was no factor because the match didn't last very long. Neither did most of the points. If not for television lengthening the changeovers, it would have been quicker.

''She's going to be a good player, but she's still very young,'' Navratilova said. ''She needs height, strength and stamina. I know I wouldn't want to be playing me when I was 15.''

Navratilova's serve was too powerful for Maleeva to handle. She was either serving aces or winning service points during her games. She was winning points from the baseline and from the net, doing virtually whatever she pleased, acting every bit the role of champion.

Maleeva, the youngest finalist in tournament history, was playing in her first major final. She won $23,000 for her effort, double her previous largest payday.

''Don't feel sorry for her,'' Navratilova said. ''Twenty-three thousand goes a long way in Bulgaria. It's 15 years of wages.''

Although she had upset veterans Pam Shriver and Bonnie Gadusek, among others, to reach the final, Maleeva clearly was overwhelmed with Navratilova's wide range of shots. It showed the imbalance in women's tennis today. There is Martina, then there is everyone else.

''I hit some good shots that would have been winners against anyone else,'' Maleeva said. ''I thought I played good, but she was just too good.''

She won the second game of the first set with four consecutive winners, raising some hopes in the crowd of 3,000, many of whom were hoping for a more balanced match.

Maleeva, though, was not the same player she was against Shriver and Gadusek, when she played with precision.

Saturday she showed very little.

She was shooting for winners in desperation. And she was missing often.

In the second set Maleeva won only eight points. It lasted only 20 minutes. ''I have to practice some more,'' she said. ''I need a better serve, a better return. But I learned something.

This is Maleeva's first full year on the tour, coming in the shadow of her sister Manuela, ranked fourth in the world before losing to Gadusek in the quarterfinal round.

Katerina was ranked just 58th two weeks ago, before moving up to 33rd this week and should reach the 20s next week.

She was so unknown that many in the crowd were shouting encouragement to her but calling her Catrina instead of Katerina.

''I think you'll start hearing more about her,'' Navratilova said. ''I've won this four years on cement at Grenelefe and two years on clay Grand Cypress. That shows my versatility and longevity. It's fun to be able to win and defend a title.''